Wednesday, January 30, 2008

I thought I was getting better...but apparently not quite yet. This is definitely not the first time I've been wrong, and obviously won't be the last. I should have known not to go in to work when I woke up throwing up. But, I have so rarely called in sick, and didn't want to be a wuss. After spending my morning meeting huddled in a blanket because I was so chilled, and feeling too out of it to really do my job, I visited the nurse who said I was on the border of having a fever. She told me to go home. That's all I needed to hear. After getting permission to leave from our wonderful principal, I spent the afternoon resting and generally feeling unproductive. Joy of joys.

On a happier note, Tyler had another swimming lesson today. He missed last week due to being sick. I wish I could see him during a lesson, but they are Wednesdays at 10 am, so I'm always at work. He told me that he swam on his back today and had fun. Apparently he was chatting it up with the instructor, which is unusual for Tyler. He told her that he was going to "Old MacDonald's" after swimming lessons. Wayne hadn't planned on going to McDonald's, but since Tyler was so excited about it, they went. I'm amazed with how quickly the lessons make an impact. After Tyler's first lesson, we went swimming at the YMCA. During all last summer, I had tried to get him comfortable with turning onto his back, while I held him close and he always resisted. After that first lesson, he flipped himself over on his own and today said that he had fun doing that. I'm so glad he's enjoying it!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Today, we enjoyed a happy day. I eased into my morning and was still in my pajamas at noon! I love Saturdays! I broke down the box the recliner came in. Tyler and I set it up and "decorated it" (marker scribbles, mostly) as his little play house in the living room.

Then we went on a walk and enjoyed playing at the park because it was 59 degrees today!!! What in the world? I think that on Wednesday I saw 5 degrees on the thermometer. Anyway, we got back and I vacuumed and washed my poor little car, neglected by me and despised by Wayne and Tyler.

Then, Wayne helped me to complete a project that I should have taken care of long ago. First you need the back story, which is actually an embarassing ... event. I really don't remember how long ago this happened, but I think it was last summer?? With my memory, who knows? It could have been the summer before. Yikes!

One afternoon, as I pulled out of our driveway, I noticed a big puddle of orangish-pinkish liquid on the end of the driveway that my car had emitted in the mere 5 seconds I paused there to back out. Wayne urged me to call the repair shop and I assured him I would, after my morning meeting. The next morning, I took off for my meeting and as I was turning into the parking lot at work, my car died. No clanking, no warning lights, it just quit. Needless to say, I was panicked! After the meeting, Wayne followed me to the repair shop (mysteriously the car started right up). When I called the shop later and talked to "Bob" to find out what was up, there was a long pause followed by a chuckle. Bob explained that first they checked for leaking fluid, but couldn't find any. They began to pay attention to the sweet smell in the garage. Using their "keen senses," they discover an exploded strawberry daiquiri container under the passenger seat. I was shocked...and embarrassed. (I had bought some frozen concentrate and it must have rolled out of my grocery bag, unbeknownst to me). But, if all that was wrong was a case of disappearing (and exploding) groceries, why did my car stall? Bob explained that "these cars" often have this problem due to topping off the gas too often or letting the gas tank get too low. (I had 1/4 tank that day, for whatever that's worth). Strangely, this sudden stalling has not happened since. But, I'm not complaining...it was just weird. So, I was planning to take the car home that day and clean it out. Did I? No. And it's been nagging at me ever since. So, today Wayne removed the passenger seat for me and I finally cleaned it out. It was surprisingly easy with the seat removed. Yay!! I am so glad that is finally taken care of.

Now, if only I could pop out the dent left by the hit-and-run in the ChuckECheese parking lot...

I spent this week in training to become a certified trainer of Nonviolent Crisis Intervention. It's a program designed to teach staff how to help de-escalate behavior, including some physical intervention as a last resort, to promote the best "care, welfare, safety and security" of our students. (You hear that repeated over and over all week).I feel badly for my fellow participants who, at some point, all had to be my partner. That took some bravery considering the number of times I had to blow my nose. Yuck! Today, I had to "teach" a part of the training, which was a little anxiety-provoking, but not bad. Anyway, assuming I passed my exam this afternoon, I will be able to begin training our school staff. Our school psychologist attended the training as well, so we'll be able to work together. Training staff will begin in February. I'm actually kind of excited. I think it could be fun. (Of course, I'm sure it'll be stressful too). Anyway, I'm also glad this week is done.Another plus for today, is that I can say with confidence that I'm feeling better. Hooray! Wayne says he thinks he is healthy again and Tyler is looking like he's feeling much better too. So, hopefully we can keep this good thing going.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Tyler loves his Daddy's car. I drive a 1998 Mercury Mystique and Wayne drives a 2003 Ford Focus. I am not a car person. I am simply happy that my car runs and is not currently costing an astronomical amount in repair bills - that was last winter.For whatever reason and for quite some time, whenever we go anywhere, Tyler requests to take Daddy's car, not Mommy's (often in a stern voice). We have asked many times what he likes better about Daddy's car and he normally doesn't give a reason. Wayne doesn't care much for my car either. Tyler has said that Daddy's car is faster. Mmmm hmmm.But yesterday, Wayne asked again why he likes Daddy's car better and Tyler's response was, "your car is just beautiful. And it's magic." Yes, the beautiful, magic Focus.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I forgot to add - Tyler calls adults "min-daults." Tonight we were talking about being sick. He said that Daddy isn't sick any more because he has cough drops. I asked whether he had a cough drop today too. He said no, those are only for min-daults. That word just cracks me up.

Tyler loves his trains - I took a picture with him covering his trains up tonight. He likes to do that, and says they are sleeping. He says they are dreaming about Cranky (the crane) dropping a package and then they bring the package in their sheds. Oh, the dreams of trains.

Well, because Carrie asked, :O) I'll say a little (or a lot) more about potty training. So, beware, if you are not potty training a child, you will be bored!

Before Christmas, we gave treats for any potty success and frequently reminded Tyler and had him "just try." During Christmas time we still gave lots of reminders, but he didn't seem to need as many rewards.

When we got back home, we got a little more resistance again for pooping in the potty. So, we reinstated his ability to earn trains for going on the potty, however this time he earns a train for 3 poops in the potty. This quickly gave him interest again. Though we quickly learned we had to stipulate that no more than one poop a day would count. Otherwise, he would try frequently throughout the day and I feared he would burst a blood vessel in his attempt to get that train as soon as possible.

He recently began asking to go when he needs to. I don't think he needs trains to go poop anymore, but we have one more to earn yet. Then, we're going to have to cut him off - it gets too expensive. Within the last week, he also started peeing standing up, which we hadn't really tried before. That's been nice, because he seems to think it's kind of fun, and "like Daddy does it." Also, since he always wants his underwear, pants, socks and shoes off when he sits, it makes going potty much easier. Anyway, that's really more than anyone wanted to know about potty training.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Well, Tim asked me to start a blog so he could feel more connected to us. While I regularly check blogs to get caught up with other people, I'm a little worried I won't have much to write about, but we'll see what happens. I have named this Stuckey Randomness because my thoughts tend to be a bit random, so I assume my blog will inevitably be random as well. This blog could be my chance to work on improving that, but I'm not counting on it...

For starters, I was hoping to have a fun weekend with not having to work today. We did have a good weekend, but all 3 of us have gotten sick. We have a nasty head cold and generally feel miserable, especially Tyler. He's been sick a few days longer than Wayne and I, so we know what we have to look forward to. Today, I loaded up on cold medicines, orange juice, a vaporizer, etc at Wal Mart. The friendly cashier promptly sprayed his conveyor belt down lest he catch our cold. Can't blame him.

On a happier note, I used Christmas money to purchase a new recliner which we picked up on Saturday. I bought a new palm plant that day for the living room. Today we all ventured out to finish off my Christmas money with a new ceiling fan for the living room. (Needless to say, none of us was very energetic, but we got the job done). I am planning to paint the living room/kitchen over Spring Break, so suddenly the living room is changing, and it has been fun.

Tonight, Tyler was asking what the stud finder was. He said "it's Daddy's. I'm growing up to be like Daddy. I just need to grow 3 inches." Luckily, he is much more into being a "big boy" than a baby, like he was a few months ago. He has been potty trained during the day for the past week or so. (He was doing well over Christmas break, but needed a little encouragement after we got home, but is doing better again). I could go on and on about potty training, but I'll stop there. Anyway, that's it for today...we'll see how soon I remember to do this again.